A TEENAGER who suffered a punctured lung when he was stabbed fending off a gang of three as he walked to a local shop fears that the thugs could strike again targeting women and elderly people.

A TEENAGER who suffered a punctured lung when he was stabbed fending off a gang of three as he walked to a local shop fears that the thugs could strike again targeting women and elderly people.

Saeed Ahmad was walking on Waterloo Road in Cheetham when he was confronted by a trio of masked and hooded muggers who stepped out of an alleyway and demanded he empty his pockets.

The 6ft-tall fitness fanatic refused to comply and was ready to take on all three attackers when one of them produced a knife and stabbed him under his left arm puncturing his lung and narrowly missing his heart.

He said: "I'm 6ft tall and keep very fit. I was back on my mountain bike the day after they let me out of hospital.

"If these people will attack a 6ft tall, fit guy like me, what chance have older people and women got.

"They only had guts because they had a knife. This wasn't late at night, and it's normally a busy street but there was nobody about at the time. This could happen to anyone.

"At the time I was finding it very hard to breath. It affected my whole chest and I'm still taking painkillers. If I hadn't been so strong, I could have died."

Saeed was at first unaware that he had been seriously hurt and believed he had been winded by a punch in the ribs. It was only when he felt blood pouring from the wound that he realised he had been stabbed.

He said: "One had a knife in his hand and one of them said, 'Give me all your stuff.'

"There was one in front of me, one at my side and one behind. I said, 'No.' and pushed one of them away, then the three jumped on me and one of them hit me just near my ribs on the left side of my chest. They didn't get anything from me, they ran off. As I started to carry on walking I realised I was bleeding."

Saeed, a Btec computer student, called an ambulance and the police on his mobile phone and was taken to North Manchester General Hospital where he spent five nights after undergoing surgery to drain blood from his collapsed lung.

The youngster, who works part-time in a computer store, was back on his feet 24 hours after being discharged but has been told it could be three weeks before he is fully recovered.

The attack, that happened at 7.45pm on Thursday, October 30, has shocked his close-knit family and the wider Muslim community who offered prayers for his recovery at Mosques on Friday and relatives from all over the country were at his bedside within hours of hearing of the assault.

Saeed is now worried that the culprits are still stalking the streets and could pick a softer target next time.

"I'm on the way to a full recovery but in the back of my mind I'm thinking, they could do this again."